1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to single piece electrical receptacle terminals having edges or ports for receiving locking members in order to retain the terminal within a connect housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is a continuous requirement in the electrical connector industry, to provide more cost effective, reliable and simple electrical terminals. It is often a further requirement to provide terminals that are stably held within corresponding cavities of a connector housing, and providing a means for securely retaining the terminals within the cavities. It is also often desirable to have high contact forces for improving electrical conductivity between mated contacts, whilst nevertheless reducing the mating force required when coupling complementary connectors. It is also sometimes desirable to provide the resilient locking lances integral with the connector housing rather than stamping resilient locking lances out of the terminal in order to provide a smooth outer surface of the terminal with less risk of entanglement with wires or other objects and less risk of damage to the locking means. It would be desirable to combine as many of the above advantages into a cost effective and simple contact for use in certain applications.
It is known to have a receptacle terminal with a box-like shell portion where a pair of opposing contact arms extend from the forward portion of the box-like structure and are folded inside of the shell to create opposing cantilevered contact arms between which a mating tab terminal may be received. An advantage of this structure is that the contact arms are disposed within a protective outer shell that prevents the contact arms from being damaged and a smooth surface is presented for insertion into a passageway of a connector housing. It is further known to incorporate ports along the box-like structure for receiving resilient locking arms of the housing wherein the terminal is to be received that engage the terminal to prevent the terminal from backing out of the housing. It is further known to allow the free ends of the contact arms to abut the inner sides of the shell in order to provide the contact arms with sufficient stiffness for a wiping engagement with the tab terminal.